Improvement in the method of stopping accidental breaches in fire-hose



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being cut by incendiaries or other evil-disposed persons, or such as mayhave burst by dental breaches resulting from imperfections,

Patent Breach-Clogs,77 it being that of the and at the time of a fire,without detaehing as to form and extent, require breach-clogs,77 variedin form and dimensions, calculated to x and at the time of a fire,uncertain and varied `may be temporarily repaired for use by twocorresponding plates of metal-the'one tobe firmly binding the edges ofthe leather be-l l, tween the said plates of metal. 'If the aperture beso large, or of a description that it lUNrrnn S'rnrns,

arnsir ,ri-ren,

RALPH BULKLEY, oir-NEW YORK, nr.

IMPROVEVIIENT IN THE METHOD 0F STOPFI Specification forming part ofLeiters l v Be it known that I, RALPH BULKLEY, of the city of New Yorkand State of New York, have invented a new and useful improvement, (theobject of which is to preserve in use at the time of a iire suchfire-engine and hydrantwater leaders as may have been unexpectedlyrendered useless at the time of a iire, either by an overstrain, or havebeen caused to leak through any description of unforeseenaccicasualties, or design,) called The New York application of methodsherein described for quickly repairing and restoring to use during themfrom the line or otherwise, the intermediate parts ofsections of suchengine or hydrant-water leaders as may have been caused to leak byunexpected accidents, imperfections, casualties, or design notheretofore provided ior by any application or'improvement.

The breaches to which waterleaders are liable, and which thisapplication and improvement are intended to correct, being uncertainmeet every emergency pertaining thereto; and among the many methodswhich may be emp ployed in pursuance of the application of thisimprovement in repairing, in the vicinity of breaches in tire-leaders,so as to retain their usefulness at a time or times when most needed,during the existence of a iire, the following may be enumerated, to wit:If the aperture in the leader be oi' small size, it may be quicklyVstopped bythe application of a short screw with flattened head andgimlet-point; but if the aperture be a slit in a lengthwise direction,it

placed inside of the aperture of sui'licient length to cover it, and thecorresponding plate upon the'outside of the aperture of sufficientlength to cover it-and the two plates screwed together by screwspreviously fitted, ihus NG ACClDENTAi. BREACHES IN FIRE-HOSE.

atent No. L, dated May S, 1840.

cannot be secured by such screws or plates, then a section of metal orother description of pipe or tube of suitable dimensions may be insertedwithin the defective part and the ap.- plication of either or any oftheapparatus denominated breaeh-clogs," and if the breach required to bestopped be not in itself large enough to admit of the application of the.breach-clog iixtures, or either of them, then the water-leader may besevered by cutting; or incisions of suitable extent may be made for theconvenient and necessary application of the said apparatus for thecontemplated object, as herein described. That portion of thewater-leaders which covers the inserted tube may be secured thereoneither by cords or straps, or by metallic clasps secured by screws orkeys. The said tubes may be of any required len gth-say from four totwelve inches, more or less-previously prepared, and it may bepreferable to have small projections at or near the ends of the tubes,to prevent the leader' from slipping off. These sectional tubes may bemade of any suitable material and of any required form or strength, withscrews or otherwise, suitable for attaining the object' intended, asherein set forth, by the application of breach-clogs, moldings, orwrappers of cloth or other substance, which may be applied upon or nearthe ends of the tubes, when necessary for tightening ,or for the betterfitting into any variety of diameter of hose or leaders which by hardstrain are liable to be unequally distended; also, the application ofstopwater fixtures by compression upon the exterior of engine andhydrant-water leaders may be made either by lever or screw pressure. Thelever-pressure may be applied in forni nearly similar to tongs used forhandling heated iron, or on a pivot at the junction of lthe handles, orby' screws in the form ofordinary press-screws, the form and strengthdepending on the strength required to vovercome the internal pressureupon the leader or hose.

It is believed this improvement in its application, as described,differs from all others in use, itV being that breach-clogs andstopwater fixtures, as described, form no part of engine or hydrantwaterleaders, buty are merely to be held in reserve for use as append- .agesthereto, being in their application a disftinet and independentapparatus of intended use only in cases of casualties, and in theimmelment of breach-clogs might, for the time bediate temporary repair ofunexpected breaches in water-leaders, from whatever cause, or towhatever extent, or in whatever form the same may occur, with a view toretain their desired usefulness at and during the re at the time ofwhich the'y were injured by applying the said breach-clogs at the timeand in the vicinity of a iire, with or without detaching the injuredsection of leader from the line, as convenience may require; they notonly differ in their application, but in the object to be attained-towit, that of restoring to immediate use for the time beingwater-leaders, which, by reason of casual de- 'ects, would, as heretforepracticed, be detached from the line of leaders and thrown l asideduring the remainder of the fire at which they had been injured.

Fire-engine and hydrant-water leaders are a compound article, and are ina complete and finished state when delivered from the hands of theworkmen or manufacturers. Again, when leaders are injured during theiruse at a hre, such use being the object for which they weremanufactured, no workmen or materials are at hand in preparation forrepairs; but, on the contrary, when water-leaders become thus injured,instead of being immediately repaired and retained in use, they aredetached from the line and thrown aside'as entirely useless as totheirintended object during the remainder of the fire, and at someconvenient future period they are gathered up and taken tothe usualworkshops for ordinary repairs at a future day, and a differentdescription of repairs from those contemplated by this improvement-suchas sewing or common riveting; hence appears the difference, as intendedto be explained, between an original improvement, the formation of acompoundA article, the water-leader, in itself complete for all itsintended uses when delivered from thehands of the workman ormanufacturer, and the improvement comprised in the application ofbreach-clogs to beheld in reserve, and to be applied tothe intermediateparts ot' sections of water-leaders, as herein described, on incidentaloccasions. f

Among the advantages which this improvement possesses the following maybe enumerated, to wit:

The first and mostimportantis that of guarding against the evil designsand attempts of incendiaries, for it is reasonable to be presumed thatincendiaries who are bad enough ,i y to fire a city are also bad enoughto destroy the means used for extinguishing fires; and

when the frail substance of which Water-leaders arecomposed is takeninto consideration, it will doubtless be admitted that it is in thepower of incendiaries to impede or annui every preparation made forextinguishingres by merelyr cutting the water-leaders,:and therebypreventing the conveyance oi water to aiire. In this view ofthesubjecttherev might be instances when the application of this improvehence ingand during the raging of a lire, be paramount in value to all otherexpensive preparations combined for extinguishing iires, for if everyline of leaders directed toward afire were cut and rendered useless asto their intended object, they might all, bythe application of thisimprovement in breach-clogs, be repaired and again in use in a shorttimeperhaps two or three minutes-each company having its apparatusalways prepared and in readiness for application on incidentaloccasions. There might therefore be instances .when all the expensivepreparations for procuring water, engines, and other apparatus forextinguishing iires would be rendered unavailable in consequence of thecutting of water-leaders by the combined acts of incendiaries; and, onthe other hand, even if -they were so cut, they might be immediatelyrestorred to use by the application of this improvement; and the saidimprovement and application, as herein described, together withstop-water fixtures, as also herein described,

are hereby claimed as patent rights and thus, when alluding to thecontlagration of a city, while all the expensive preparations forextinguishing iiresmight be rendered unavailable and inoperative, 'asabove stated, such coniiagration might be arrested or prevented bypreserving the continued use of such preparations for extinguishingfires by immediately restoring to use any number of cut water-leaders bythe application of this improvement of breach-clogs,as above described;and with a knowledge that means were at hand for the immediate repair ofinjuries arising from the incendiary acts of cutting waterleaders,evil-disposed persons would have less Ainducement to perpetrate suchacts, and the ivev iires.

Thirdly.4 When leaders are used with numerous even small apertures,permitting the water to escape, the remaining part of the Water whichpasses on to the point of discharge escapes with less force than if thewhole quantity were retained in the leader. The principal advantage inthe' use of water-stops, as above described, consists, iirst, in quicklyYstopping the water in the leaders, in order the more conveniently toapply the breach-cl0gs for incidental repairs to the said leaders; and,secondly, by the use of water-stops for stopping and starting the waterin the leaders in vthe immediate vicinity of a hre the loss of time isprevented in sending directions to stop and again to start totheattendant at the hydrant, thus frequently causing delay when only amomentary delay is necessary for changing the direction of aleader. Thispart of the improvement,V however, must be cautiously applied, as itdepends on the relativestrength of the leader as compared with thepressure of the water from the fountain-head.

As supplemental and additional to that part of the foregoingspecification, and the more fully to illustrate wherein this improvementdiffers from all others in use, it may be observedin relation toWater-leaders that the object of the persons whon manufacture them isaccomplished when such leaders are completed and delivered from theirhands in a finished state. The said leaders are afterward transferred tocertain operators for use as occasion may require. Theseoperators-firemen or hydrant-men-are ofvarious occupations, who in thecourse of duty continue the water-leaders in their possession for useunless, from some cause, they become defective, and when found to be somuch defective as to be unlit for use itis again practically a part oftheir duty to condemn and abandon them as of no further use during theremainder of a iireat which they were injured. It is therefore one ofthe objects of this improvement,practically,to furnish the saidoperators with the means of immediate vtemporary repair of any and everydescription of aperture that may be casually or intentionally made insuch leaders7 such means of repair being in the application and use ofthe said improvement denominated breach-clogs, it being that thebreaches above alluded to, whether incidental or caused intentionally byevil-disposed persons, usually occur while the said leaders are incharge of the said operators.

The following is a supplemental or additional description of that partof the foregoing specification which relates to the screwclogs. 7 Thesaid screw-clogs consist of screws of various dimensions, pointed or ofconical form and blunted at the smaller end, preparatory for piercingthe intermediate parts of the hose laterally, and for clogging orstopping such small breaches or perforations, uncertain as to size, asmay casually occur. The said screw-clogs maybe applied while the hoseare in use in a distended state, and while the water is passing throughthem and while the water is spurting through the perforation or breachinto which the screw-clog is to be pierced or inserted. The saidscrew-clogs are believed to differ from all other improvements in use.They differ in principle and object from the screws which unite thehose, section to section, it being that these uniting-screws are acomponent part f in the original formation of hose. There is apassage-Way for Water through the screws, anda they are applieduniformly at the ends of sections for the eX- eXpress and only object ofuniting entire secl tions of hose; whereas screw-clogsare a solid mass,to be applied to the hose laterally, and the said breach-clogs are tobe-kept in readiness, of various dimensions, to meet emergencies, andfor stopping or clogging every variety of small breaches or perforationsthat may occur, with a View thereby to prevent the disuse of hose inconsequence of casualties at the time of a re. y

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The mode of repairing lateral breaches in hose by means of screws, asherein set forth; also, of repairing larger breaches in the same bymeans of lnetallic plates and inflexible tubes inserted in hose,constructed and secured in the manner herein described.

l RALPH BULKLEY.

